Your Dog Will Love This! All Natural Tip Against Fleas And Ticks

Summer – the perfect time for our dear animal companions to play outside. My dog Fritzi loves to roll around and jump through the high grass fields and unfortunatelly brings back home a lot of unwelcome friends – mainly ticks and sometimes fleas. For a long time now, we’ve been using “Frontline”, a vet recommended flea and tick protection. But as it happens so often, you don’t realize how bad something is until you inform yourself. And when I did, I found out, that a lot of those vet recommended tick and flea treatments are in fact dangerousfor dogs. The active ingredients in Frontline might supposedly produce cancer, organ damage, nervous system damage, reproductive damage and skin problems. It was clear for me that I wanted to find an alternative to this chemical cocktail. Nevertheless, not protecting my dog against fleas and ticks was not an option either, since it is known that they can pass on diseases which might lead to death in some cases.

On my research I came across different natural insect repellents like garlic, cedar oil, eucalyptus, and neem oil. I read in different forums about them but not everybody shared the same opinions. One thing that became clear was, that garlic is a no-go for dogs, because they function like poison for the animal, if eaten in large doses.

Essential oils were discussed very controversial too. Some say they help perfectly and their animals didn’t mind them either, others find them to be too agressive and that their animals felt bothered by the smell or even showed allergic reactions to them. I never tried essential oils on my dog, but I can imagine that their strong smells would also bother him a lot. After all, his favorite “Au de Toilette” is the smell of mud pits and bird poop! So, strong essential oils weren’t a good option either.

After a couple of hours of research in the world wide web, I finally found something that would be so helpful and awesome that I need to write a post about it: All you need, to scare the ticks and fleas away, is coconut oil! I was more than surprised that this insect repellent still seems to be a secret among dog guardians. After all, maybe not that surprising, because the pharma industry is earning millions with their medication and wouldn’t like the fact that there might be a much cheaper and natural insect repellent. In fact, coconut oil is not only cheap and natural, it also has a neutral scent and is healthy for the dog and its fur. I didn’t read about any negative experiences and the only disadvantages seem to be that your dogs fur might look a bit wet wherever you apply the oil and that you have to apply the oil every day, but with all the advantages, I really don’t mind this.

Coconut oil on the fur

This is how it works:

The tick and flea repellend component of coconut oil is “lauric acid”, so it is important to use a pure and unprocessed product. Regular coconut oil from the supermarket works just fine, but the greener option would of course be an organic coconut oil. I rub about half a teaspoon (or even less) of coconut oil in my hand palms until it becomes liquid (takes seconds) and then apply it on my dogs higher and lower back, on the lower legs and the stomach. In the beginning I applied the fat before every walk, but now I found that it’s enough if I do it 1-2 times a day. Fritzi hasn’t had any ticks or fleas since I use the coconut fat and that ‘s an even better result than the results we had with Frontline! Oh, how I love to find out about secrets like this one! : )

HAPPY DOG! HAPPY TIME!

It would be interessting to know what kind of experiences you made with insect repellents. Have you tried any natural repellents before?

UPDATE 4/15/2013: I’ve been getting a lot of great feedback of people who successfully tried coconut oil on their dogs and even cats. Here is a helpful tip from one of the readers: “I also boiled 1/2c of coconut oil with 1c water in a sauce pan then put it in a spray bottle and spritz it on the bed and we’ve had no more bites. I thought your readers might like to know that trick too!”

Update 5/8/2014: I’ve been using this coconut oil method for 3 years now and I’m still so happy with it! Our dogs have ticks so rarely, it’s unbelievable! And they didn’t have any fleas at all. I try to spread the word as much as I can and hope that this blog post inspires many more people. Thank you also for all your wonderful comments and feedback. I love hearing from you!

Hey there! : ) It really is an awesome trick. Fritzi didn’t have any ticks or flees since weeks now. I’m so happy.
I look forward to a new blogpost of yours, they are always so interessting! Of course it needs to be on my blogroll! :-) Many greetings!

D

Hi there, love your article on coconut oil for pets. I’ve been using it for a few years now on EVERYTHING. I cook with it, moisturise with it, use it as a sun screan, put it in my hair, Polish furniture, brilliant for acne, the list is endless. I cant praise this stuff enough. And of course what a beautiful natural product to treat our darling pets with.

Coconut oil is awesome! Yesterday I also learned that you could apparently use it as sunscreen as well, wow! It’s for everything! :-D Haven’t used it for furniture polishing yet, but thank you for the tip!

Rita

I have two miniature poms that have been tormented by fleas, we like most people have tried everything, does the coconut oil actually kill them or just make them jump off? We have even tried a major name brand flea killer for our carpet and are still having problems, not only our babies but my husband and I as well. This would be a blessing!

Hi Rita! Even though I didn’t experience it myself I know from several readers that the fleas actually died when they used the covinut oil.

Kristyn

13.09.2014 at 16:42

Yes, coconut oil does kill fleas. It also kills lice. It works by basically suffocating the creatures; fleas breathe through their exoskeletons. Any kind of oils coating them prevents them from breathing. It does not, however, kill pupae or eggs so constant treatment is reaquired to continually kill the adults. Some eggs may stay dormant for up to a year. Another good trick: take a cheap flea collar, cut it up (wear gloves!) and put it in your vacuum cleaner’s canister to kill the fleas that have been brought into your carpets.

Jennifer

Rita, I have an 8lb. Pom that has been ravaged by fleas this season as well. I live in Georgia and it’s so much worse than last year. I didn’t want to use Advantix2 on him last year but I did and this year, it doesn’t work near as well. I bought organic, unrefined, cold pressed coconut oil yesterday and spread it on his bottom, tummy, feet, & legs.
I would love if you would please answer a question for me. Have your Poms had any hair loss from scratching and chewing?

valerie

09.11.2014 at 19:13

My pom had herself looking like a Chinese Crested and in 6 weeks of internal and external coconut oil, we have her back to 90% covered in hair again. I’m hoping continued use will allow her to have healthy skin and coat by the first of the year.

SANJAY BAWA

05.10.2015 at 01:07

I have been feeding cold pressed coconut oil two tsp twice a day to my cocker spaniel,since last twenty days his coat has improved ,but it has had no effect on the ticks ,we are still removing 50-100 plus ticks every day
He is presently down wth tick fever and is on antibiotics since last three days.
The anti tick injection given by the vet has not worked
There is slight relief if we rub coconut oil mixed with neem oil on the infected patch of the body,like paws chest behind the years.
My house has been infected with ticks , what should I use to get rid of them naturally.

Dear Sanjay, I’m sorry to hear that your dog is battling with so many ticks. I would suggest that you rub the coconut oil on the whole body of your dog to repel the ticks. Some of the readers have made good experience with feeding the coconut oil to their dogs, but personally I have had the best results with rubbing the coconut oil directly on the fur. Since there are so many ticks at the moment you could rub on a bit more oil, but usually about 1/2 – 1 tsp a day is enough to keep ticks away. I really hope that it’ll work! Good luck!

Zimmitt

I know this is a little off topic but I thought I would add that you can mix salt and baking soda together in equil parts to use for your carpets. You leave it over night then vac it up. Also borax works great for tossing in the places that fleas like to hide under furniture etc… The salt kills larvae and eggs and the baking soda kills fleas. Borax does both by drying them out and killing them. All three are non toxic to pets and people! And you mostlikely have it laying around alread! Totally sorry if u spotlighted this stuff already in your blog!! Great info here!!!

Jojo

23.09.2015 at 08:02

Boraax can make dogs ill!!! Please don’t use near the

Diana

Another inexpensive fix.. for carpets,you can go to a dollar store and get boric acid powder.. Sprinkle around the corners or on carpet anywhere and they’ll be gone in less than 24 hours!! I tried expensive bombs sprays, you name it ..the went and got the boric acid for 2.00 and they were gone!!

Trisha

Hey I am just wondering would the coconut oil be safe for a 7 week old puppies that are German Shepard/Husky mix?? We are going camping this weekend and want to take pups for the first time but I am so scared they will get ticks if I don’t put a repellent of some sort on them! Thank you!

Hi Trish, personally (as a non-expert) I don’t think that there is any risk, giving the coconut oil to puppies, especially if you only apply the oil on the fur. I have never read about any side-effects of coconut oil. If you’re still unsure, you might want to double check with your vet, just to be safe. Have fun camping! :)

Michelle

27.12.2015 at 08:30

Hello Greenderella can I use any kind of coconut oil or do I have to use the Pet coconut oil

This post is excellent but I need to add something. I’m a golden retriever owner in Cool,CA where ticks are everywhere. I live on side of canyon and deer are in the yard every day. After a few months living here and while on front line, my golden had an engorged tick on his face.. Well I started feeding him coconut oil mixed in his food a little after that and actually stopped the chemicals and he hasn’t had a flea or tick sense then. I use no topical coconut oil he just eats it.

Courtney

We also feed our pit/lab mix coconut oil on her food, we started because of her losing hair and it has grown back beautifully, and now she wont eat her food unless it is there…..so my question is I dont have to put it on her just feed it to her….we have deer too and high grass that she thinks that she needs to be in and want to make sure that she is protected from ticks and fleas……she would get white flakes on her back when we put the flea and tick medicine on her last summer and would really like to avoid that this summer it makes her itch

Hi Courtney, great to hear that you feed coconut oil to your dog and that it helped to grow her fur back! A lot of people commented that they just feed the coconut oil to get protection from ticks and fleas, so I guess it is not necessary to put the coconut oil on the fur. Let me know how it works for your dog, if you try it! :-)

Diana

23.05.2015 at 18:49

I am glad to read that I can feed it to my boy.. He gets aggressive when I put stuff on him or touch his sensitive ears.. Its a problem in itself.. A vet cant touch him either.. But I refuse to take crappy advice like putting him down.. I am open to healthy advice on aggressive dogs too!! Thank you for these tips on the coconut oil. I gave some to my daughter who has dealt with sunspots for seven years no and they are almost gone!

I’m sorry to hear that your dog gets aggressive when you put stuff on him, but I’m so glad that you don’t listen to such crazy advice like putting him down (can’t believe a vet would say such thing!). I don’t know the story of your dog and if there is maybe a trauma experience that triggered the aggression, but often time these aggressions disappear once the dogs simply feel loved and know that nobody wants them any harm. I help out at an animal sanctuary where they sometimes have cases like this. They had a very aggressive Chihuahua that nobody could touch (because his first owner hit him often). But over a period of time, he learnt that he was safe in his new home and today he is the most cuddly dog of all. Sometimes time and love heal all wounds. Wishing you good luck with everything and I hope the coconut oil will work for your pooch too!

Courtney

14.07.2015 at 14:09

we just feed it to her and we haven’t had any fleas or ticks….everyone comments on how shiny her coat is and how healthy she looks……she LOVES coconut oil

Dave

I have a ? When u rub the oil on ur dog does it leave him greasy n does it leave greasy spots on the things they lay on n wen using the oil do u bathe them daily or every other or justhow often ok tht was more then one ? Ll

Hi Kris, it does leave the dogs a bit greasy, though you don’t need much oil to repel the ticks/fleas. If you don’t like putting the coconut oil on the fur, you could try feeding it to them too. A lot of readers have commented that it worked for them as well. My experience was a bit better with applying the coconut oil directly on the fur but it’s always worth giving it a try! I hope this helps!

I just gave my 2 Aussie coconut oil and they loved it. ……. so can I rub it on the skin. I have one that has hot spots on his feet and it kills me to see him in so much pain. We have tried everything from natural and vet products and NOTHING works

Hi Sally, I always rub the coconut oil on my dogs and it is great for the fur and skin. I’m not sure however if putting the coconut oil directly on a hot spot is gonna be the right treatment for the dog. For this it might be better to ask your vet. I could imagine though that feeding the coconut oil and rubbing it on the not infected parts of the skin might help to calm the inflammation. Good luck to your pooches!

Christie

It should be fine, coconut oil is a natural bacteria fighter and also helps with any kind of yeast infections. The hard thing is trying to keep then from licking it off. I’ve used coconut oil on the ears and any other sores or spots my pups have developed. It’s kind of a cure all.

Tammy Taylor

Hi,
Does the coconut oil on their skin/fur have to be rinsed off or can it stay on? We have had a horrible flea infestation here and a few of my cats have scratched up their skin and have scabby sores where they’ve scratched themselves. They look pitiful but they LOVE the coconut oil. Actually stood still for me to apply it and we’re trying to eat it!! This is only day one and tomorrow, I am going to focus on the carpets, bedding, etc by sprinkling all of it with diatomaceous earth and then vacuuming. Food grade DE is very healthy for pets and helps kill fleas (if it’s rubbed on their fur) and it will kill fleas, larva and eggs on carpets and upholstery. Also, a mixture of apple cider vinegar and water sprayed on furniture and your pets repels fleas. I’m just wondering about having to rinse the coconut oil off my cats.

Hi Tammy, I hope your cats will be free of fleas in no time. You don’t have to rinse of the coconut oil. If you leave it on it functions as a prevention against fleas and ticks. I hope this helps! All the best, Franziska

Maria Juanita Viloria

I love using this on my chihuahua, I don’t like havinf to spray her with flea shampoo, then wash her afterwarda. We have fleas in the house due to the cat we got. Any suggestions to rid of fleases in the house.

Rain

Kate

As far as I know, Tea Tree oil is not poisonous to dogs, but it IS poisonous to CATS. It is however a very powerful substance. For dogs and humans you never want to ingest it! Don’t put it in your mouth! Also, if you’re going to use it on your skin or on your dog’s skin, it should be in a solution of no more than 1% ie: 1 part Tea Tree oil to 100 parts water or oil or whatever you’re using it in. That guideline is pretty much true for any essential oil you use, but especially true for Tea Tree since it is so strong and can hurt your skin if you apply it directly and undiluted.

Lynda

I put 1/8 teaspoon of tea tree oil in my 8 oz Eco-Dent mouth wash for healing/preventing gum disease. I dip my proxy brushes in it and swish the left overs in my mouth. Works wonders. At that strength it is not toxic, but don’t swallow! I’ve done this for years, have not keeled over yet and get excellent report cards from my periodontist.

This might sound likke silly queztion and btw. Thank you for tbis blog and updates. I got coconut oil that im getty readyto put on my dog phobie. But i heard also for us its good for face but i got sle lupus and it seemed to agitate my lupus spots all over my face! Has anybody hearx if tree oil iz good for lupus? And my daughtr had founx out it good for lice. It zeems tbe schools quit taki.g time out to cbeck students and kids keep co,ing o. Witb lice. So not rigbt. But ty n god bless. Teresa

paijon

01.10.2014 at 06:18

I used the Expeller Pressed Virgin organic coconut Oil tonight on min pin. The fleas went couldn’t get off him fast enough! The coconut melts as its applied to the skin & coat and I massassed it in all over. He was really loving the relief. At first it was a bit of a startle for him with the fleas exciting his body so fast I’m sure he felt their crawling movement. I used a liberal amount of coconut to massaged into his under arms and hind under legs legs. They were coming off him like crazy. I bathed him in Dawn dish detergent last night and tonight combed him there were lots of fleas on the flea comb. I dip the flea comb in a bowl of very small amont of natural soap to kill fleas. Then tonight I did the Organic Coconut massage and the fleas can’t jump that fast with the oil on them. Also I tried to pick the ones off the whit sheet with lint roller of sticky tape and fleas with oil don’t seem to stick to tape. However they were dying…not instantly but I saw them dieing off on the shit. Also easy to catch when they are slower and less able to get about. Right now he is sleeping so comfortable. Before this coconut message he was a mess at night. In & out the doggie door outside to the patio & back..The fleas would bother him. Not tonight after his coconut massage he is snoring and comfortable no fleas bugging him. The fleas can’t tolerate coconut. It will need to be a dailey rub with coconut but it will be well worth it. Fleas are bad in Monterey Calif. Near the ocean there’s a lot of moisture in the air. Fleas thrive in this climate. Front line doesn’t work. There chemicals are dangerous to pets in these types of flea products..

Jessica

Actually you can put tea tree oil in your mouth. I use a natural toothpaste that has tea tree oil in it. And I also use it full strength on my skin. For acne and whatnot. Its true for those that aren’t use to using it. To dilute it first. But as your skin gets use to it you can use it full strength. But your right. NEVER use full strength on dogs or any animal for that matter. There skin is WAY to sensitive.

Kara

We recently started using coconut oil for our flea problem because the vet prescribed flea “treatment” didn’t seem to work AT ALL! And because our dog is indoor/outdoor he was bringing the fleas inside and infecting our indoor cat who sleeps on my daughters bed and I noticed flea bites! So I needed to find something better.

I hopped online and found all kinds of safe natural methods to use for fleas and found coconut oil as one and I knew it was the one I wanted to try. So I bought some and it’s been wonderful.

We rub it on our dog and cat once a day (cat was hesitant at first to let us but loves it now) and I also boiled 1/2c of coconut oil with 1c water in a sauce pan then put it in a spray bottle and spritz it on the bed and we’ve had no more bites. I thought your readers might like to know that trick too!

Hey Kara, thank you for your great feedback. Since I found out about coconut oil I try to tell as many people as possible because it works great and is so simple and healthy for the animals. I hope more people will try it. Your trick with the spray bottle is great as well! I will add a note about it at the end of the post! Thanks a lot for sharing!

Shianne

Hey thanks for the help! although i couldn’t get any coconut oil i found out that avacado oil is similiar which i had cuz i use in my hair sometimes for straightening. i used that on bruno (my chihuahua) and the flees started dying instantly and it didn’t bother his skin at all!

Dolly

I just wanted to let you know that although controversial, the ASPCA insists that avocado and all of its parts are poisonous to dogs. I have known pet owners that feed their dogs avocado and are fine, but it’s nice to know.

It seems to be the tick season where I am and even with neem oil I found ticks on my dog. I tried coconut oil yesterday afternoon after her bath and still found a tick that night. I’m so frustrated! I don’t want to go to frontline or something if possible. :(

Hi Michelle, what a bummer that the coconut oil is not working on your dog! Did you rub it all over her or just some spots? Maybe you could try it with another coconut oil. It’s important that it is 100% pure. Other than that I cannot imagine why it didn’t work, but I keep my fingers crossed that you find a solution other than Frontline. I know how frustrating it can be…. Greetings and good luck!

melanie

Can I use the idea of boiling coconut oil and water into a spray and spray my animals everyday instead of rubbing it on? my late dog, seger, had lymphoma and was losing his hair and his skin was very vulnerable to everything so I greased him up in coconut oil everyday! He and my cat went nuts for the stuff!!!

If your pet is sick, feed them homemade food, fresh cooked meats, with brown rice or cooked potato, broccoli, squash or other veggies except corn, no onion, no garlic. My dog was sick and I pulled her off dog food and switched to the motto: If you can’t eat it, don’t feed it to your dog!” She was dieing until I switched her diet.

I am going to try the coconut oil to rid of ticks. Hope it works! Thanks.

That’s great! Glad to hear that your dog is better after switching the diet. Many people don’t realize how important the right diet is for the dogs health. Let me know how the coconut oil works for you!

Wayne

Hello
Not only will it help if you rub it on, put some on their food and it will soon do wonders for all kinds of problems. Most love the taste, and only side effect may be loose stools if you use too much, if it happens just cut back a little and build up. I use this personally and can tell you that the health benefits have been amazing. The lauric acid {also found in human mother’s milk} will build up immune system, give you. or your pet, more energy , help with weight loss and far too many other things to mention here. Eventually You will not need to rub it on, as it will become the oil that their skin excretes. I am writing a book on nutrition and my recommended diet for humans and for pets will center around coconut oil. This stuff is a true super-food and is being used with great success to treat all kinds of immune system problems as well as inflammatory problems.
Hope this helps

Alicia

Hi
I agree with Wayne, I have been giving my 3 dogs Organic unrefined extra virgin cold pressed coconut oil..(54 ounce jar in Sam’s club costs less than 16.00) I was giving it orally and I spray it on their food. I used it for the health benefits and realized after about 2 – 3 weeks my dogs skin and hair improved and not a single flea on the dog, I don’t rub it on the dogs fur no need. The easiest way to give it to your dog is a small glass spray bottle fill it with only coconut oil ..Spray in their mouths ..or spray on the food or add to their water . I also reap the benefits myself and take an ounce a day orally ..Coconut oil works and is non toxic for humans and animals…try it and give it some time to do it’s magic ..your pet will be happy and so will your pocket….

Teresa nrldon

I am going to try it tom and u said yo spray it on there bedding or wrtrver they dlrrp tight will it be ok on the furniture as well they do sleep there yo and the carpets to thank you for your input or anything god bless u always

Teresa nrldon

Greendella I tried it I really like it I feed it to then then next day alternate and spray it on them is that ok to do that u said everyday to do that I did they like it haven’t seen them scratch or anything hope it works haven’t seen a flea thank you

Susannah Yam

Amanda

I cook my dogs food and have always included coconut oil in it but I never really measure anything out… Wayne maybe you can help… what would be a good amount daily in food to keep away fleas and ticks? The benefitss of it by the way have been fabulous… he has had such skin issues in the past… and they are now actually a thing of the past!!

Wayne

Hello: I am no expert but I would feed according to size, very small dogs{Chihuahua} maybe 1 tsp, medium size maybe 1 tbs larger dogs like labs and larger 1 to 2 tbs. I find most dogs love it and will lick it from your hand or if placed on food they will go for it first. The first few days might cause some loose stools but that passes in a few days as it cleans some of the toxins and parasites from there system,When preparing your dog’s food please remember that dogs, like people, need enzymes for all the functions in their body to work properly, especially digestion since that is where they get the nutrients from the food, so they need some raw foods in order to get these. Once a food is heated above 118 degrees it no longer has any viable enzymes. I sometimes puree some spinach,broccoli,carrots,apples,beets and avocado and add to dry food,{ these are actually left overs from my smoothies and have my probiotics in it, which I believe are helpful} they love it and always come running when they hear the blender come on. Hope this helps.

Thank you for all of the great advice Wayne! I love the idea of blending fruit and veggie left overs of smoothies with coconut oil as a treat for dogs. I recently started to make green smoothies as well and I will definitely try that! Also, let us know the name of your book, once it’s out. It sounds very interesting!!

Jen

I read this on a dogs love coconut site lol. “Dosing is easy: give one teaspoon per ten pounds of body weight, or one tablespoon per thirty pounds. Work up to the suggested dosing amount gradually, as the detoxification process can trigger flu-like symptoms in dogs that start off on the full dose right away.”

Gary Fleischmann

Been reading about coconut oil for pets and although I’ve been feeding my Wheaten a bit with most meals, now it’s time to attempt using it for fleas. Started with a douse of diatomaceous earth and following up with the oil. Can’t say it is the easiest stuff to get through the fur of a Wheaten Terrier… anyone have pointers on application into dense, soft fur?

tara

This makes perfect sense!! I use Coconut oil on my own skin nightly and rub the excess on my 2 Chihuahua babies. Then add a bit more to them. I thought it was strange that they NEVER had a flea. Our neighbors home has high grass due to a foreclosure & it always worried me. It really is the oil!! My friends are always wondering how neither of my fur babies have pesky fleas without ever using flea spot treatments & their dogs do occasionally get a few. Thanks for the validation!!

Susannah Yam

Adina

Just found this and tried it immediately since I always have coconut oil on hand. In the past I’ve used eucalyptus since it actually kills fleas, but it’s not as easy to come by. Happy to report that as soon as I rubbed the oil on my chihuahua puppy Bruno, the fleas leapt off him onto the towel – which I immediately put in the wash on high heat. He also was VERY happy to lick the spoon I used to scoop the oil out

ivy

Hello Ivy, I don’t know if the ticks will let go, once they have attached themselves to the dog, but you can definitely give it a try. Otherwise just take them out the usual way and apply coconut oil for prevention. I hope it works out! : )

Tracie

I was not aware of the benefits of coconut oil on dogs, but recently my shih-tzus skin has been red and irritated due to fleas and I’ve tried everything possible from flea oils, spray shampoo and nothing was working. I just applied it to their coats and I’ll see what happens, hopefully we all can get a goodnite’s sleep.

Kristin

Trcie,
I ws jus going to sk about shih-tzus. That dog hs bitten his hair off,scraches all day and at night my kids ,hubbyand I are non stop saying “Gizmo! Stop. We have wood floors and it it bang bang bang fron his foot. Also my girl and I even was so bit up very bad,our whold body was misable that her and I thought we had chicken pox.We bothhad to go to a skin Dr. I even had to get some skin cut well a bite and it came back saying they were flea bites.The wierd thing is that my hubby and son never to this day been bitten.I get so made about that,but I am glad they don’t because I told them it is a pain. My girl and I have to put rubbing alcohl on our bights just to get us from scraching the heck out of our body. I hope this works.Thanks.I have fond the vergin oil at a food store we have inTampa,Florida called Aldi’s God please let this work.Also I have read using the BLUE DAWN HAND SOAP IS THE BEST OR THE LAVENDER.That is all I bath my dogs in now.

Leigh Anne

I fostered a dog several months ago that had a skin condition. I rubbed him down with coconut oil and it was amazing how quickly he started to look better. I’m now trying it for fleas. The dogs and cats come running when they see the jar. Fingers crossed it works.

I have been at my wits end with these fleas!! My whole town is stray cat city so they are just everywhere and I can’t battle them enough! I found your post… ran to Fresh Market… got some coconut oil… and applied! My dog LOVED it and the fleas HATED it!! They were jumping RIGHT OFF!! :) And they were all slooowww so I could get them!

BTW… we have been trying lemongrass to kill the fleas… it’s been working! So now in conjunction… the coconut oil gets the fleas off and as soon as they jump off I spray em with the lemongrass… done and done. :)

Brandi

I have used the coconut oil on my dogs and cats and it works great. I found out about this when my daughter came home with Lice. It is great for that too. I use the coconut oils like a shampoo. All it to your own everyday shampoo wash once and then rewash with shampoo with no oil and your hair will feel great.

Gary

I would like to hear how people get the oil into their dog’s fur and onto their skin. It is normally a solid below 76 degrees. When melted and mixed with another shampoo, will coconut oil stay immersed as a liquid? And what suggestions would people have for getting it past the coat of a Wheaten terrier (dense fine fur). I have used it before to successfully sooth my dog’s itchy skin but then his coat requires washing more frequently since it tends to attract dirt faster and the result is… well, more itchy skin from too much washing.

Indepedant Thinker

Try adding it to the bath water when giving your furbaby a bath like you would Skin So Soft (that works to repel mosquitos as well as making your skin feel great). This would penetrate the fur and leave a coconut oil film on the entire dog – skin and fur – so it would protect. Then all you would have to do would be to apply it to the fur for ongoing protection. That way as you wash them it would penetrate the fur and cover their skin as well as give them a nice smell. I have added it to my dogs food as well as rubbed it on and they love it. One has some major skin problems and when I run it directly onto the area it only takes a few hours to actually see a difference in her skin. AMAZING stuff.

Susannah Yam

Thank you so much for this post.
I am living in Vietnam and I just moved house near to the river. There are ticks everywhere.
My dog was getting 20 a day at least!!!!!

I bought the preventive dog collar from the vet who said nothing about any dangers. There were no warnings on the box either!!!
I could tell something was wrong with my dog as she looked unhappy and ill.
I started looking online about the collars and saw how incredibly dangerous they are to both dogs and humans.

Paula

I also use diatomaceous earth (powdered seashells) It comes in bags at home improvement stores and at feed stores.

You can get a “duster” and dust the entire groud with the powder (non-toxic) to animals and birds. After a rain etc, the powder settles into the ground where-by the shell type fragmets penetrate the the larvae/eggs of the flea and it is no more.

I am all about holistic for animals and people and try to minimize the toxins we put in our body’s and this has been so wonderful information. I do have one question. Since the coconut oil turns to solid at certain temperatures. Is there a way to keep it a liquid in the spray bottle? To Wayne would say once a day is sufficient enough internally?
I believe if your dog has healthy immune system that is very important as well. If y’all ever get a chance check out my website http://www.mindy4life.com

Great article. I am currently treating my dog for fleas with coconut oil and it really does work. I love using it over toxic chemicals, not to mention the many other ways you can use coconut oil on your dog! I was so fascinated with it that I dedicated a website to info on using coconut oil and the health benefits it can provide your pet! Keep up the great work.

Hi Melody, thank you for your feedback. What a great idea to dedicate a webpage to the use of coconut oil for dogs! I will definitely check it out! It’s amazing what coconut oil can do for the health of dogs and humans….

Denise

Wow, what a difference. I cut my dogs hair real close. to help. She is white and flea are attracted to that.
Got no results from all Rx flea meds. We were desperate for relief. Struggled for, some seasons. So glad to let you know, this is a answer to prayer. Life is so much better. Knowledge is power. Thank you, thank you. Bossier City La.

Mary

My little Pomeranian Shelly has skin issues. I have changed her diet and eliminated all grains, sugars, and carbohydrates. Her condition improved but she still had flaky, itchy skin. I researched coconut oil and found the benefits for pets. After her bath today, I rubbed her with organic, cold pressed coconut oil. Imagine my surprise when a couple of sick fleas jumped off of Shelly! I came right to the internet and found this sight. To new readers here – coconut oil really does work! Now I’m going to make a coconut oil solution to spray on all the dogs and their chow. Thanks so much for the tips!

Ariel

Dear Ariel, I never applied coconut oil to a cat, but I assume you can also apply it on the fur. Some of the readers here also recommend feeding coconut oil to dogs/cats, so maybe that would work for your cat too. Let me know how it worked out! : )

Adi

Coconut oil does work! We tried Biospot, Frontline, lemon-citrus scents and so on but my dog always had ticks on him and on us after cuddling him. It got as bad as having to remove min 5 upto 7-8 after each walk. We also know someone who got Lime disease from a tick so the dog vs tick issue made us really paranoid. My partner read abou the coconut oil and has been on trial in the past few days and no ticks so far- we live in a village next to a forest. So don’t hesitate, try it!:-) Best,Adi

Stephanie

We tried the coconut oil last night after nights of our shih-Tzu whining because of the fleas. Before I even finished coating him with it, the fleas were dying! YAY!!! I am SOOOO grateful for an easy remedy!! NOW….to get the fleas out of my carpet….any ideas for that??

Hi Stephanie, thanks for sharing your experience! So glad it works for your dog as well! Hmm not sure how to get the fleas out of the carpet. But you could melt coconut oil, add some water and use a spray bottle to apply it on the carpet. Maybe that could work?

Indepedant Thinker

Diatomaecous earth scatter and worked in. leave in the carpet/upholstered goods and let it work for at least a week. Then vacuum as usual. Reapply each week for at least 4 weeks to be sure to get all the adults and eggs as they hatch. Then reapply each time you see any fleas on your pet to keep down any infestation. You can use the diatomaceous earth outside regularly and it will kill the fleas and eggs as long as they aren’t brought into the area by other animals. This will minimize potential infestations our you could use (chemical) Home Defense that will kill fleas, ticks, ants, spiders etc but you have to spay so you have a good coverage to be sure you kill them. The product is good and can last up to a year. I suggest that you use it at least every 3 months to be sure regardless of what the label says.

Jean

Does coconut oil or tea tree oil work to protect humans from flea bites as well? I have a horrible allergic reaction to cat fleas…if even one is around it will find me and bite me incessantly…..have had systemic reaction requiring steroids and antibiotics to cure in the past. PLEASE! ANY direct experience that anyone has with anything that prevents the little buggers from biting would be SOOO appreciated! I haven’t found any doctors take me seriously until I turn up with a systemic allergic reaction.
Peace…

I’m sorry to hear this Jean! Have you tried rubbing coconut oil on your skin yet? It should work for humans as well. The “lauric acid” of the coconut oil is what repels the fleas. I hope it will work for you!

Erin

I read your article and the comments and decided to give this a try. The topical flea repellents weren’t working. I have a 8 lb.Yorkie who scratched and awful lot. He picks up fleas from the stray cats around our apt. complex when I take him out to potty. I also found out that one of the side affects of heart worm pills is itchy dry skin. I bought the oil from Sam’s Club. At first I think I put a little too much because his hair was slicked down like Fonzi from happy days lol. I noticed he started scratching less, and a day or two later practically not at all. I also put a teaspoon in his food every morning. I didn’t apply anymore for the rest of that week and he wasn’t scratching at all. I gave him his bath on Sunday and this time I used a little less and so far so good. I rubbed it in really good on his belly where the hair is really low. I have to say I like the results. Thank you for your article. We are so happy. Sweet relief!

Hi Darlene, personally I don’t use essential oils for my dogs, because I feel like the smell could be too strong for their sensitive senses. Some dogs also have allergic reactions so I stay on the safe side and only use coconut oil, which is also very mild in its smell. But I haven’t researched the use of essential oils for pets enough to give advice. I should look into it too : )

Brandi

most are safe for dogs however to tel if your dog will tolerate it or not let your dog smell sever of them and judge his reaction to each one if he “likes” a particular;ar one use that one. my dog personally like lavender. i have a flea spray with lavender water vinegar and lemon juice and she loves it.

Brandi

coconut oil not only kills and prevents fleas but it also helps dogs with Giardia it makes them asymptomatic, it kills parasites in the body like worms., it does wonders for their hair.and it makes our pet so much healthier i put it on my dogs food every day. my dog is almost 2 weeks old and she has never had worms or been de wormed. she has never had the need for it. ever since i brought her into my home she has gotten coconut oil in her food.. she loves it. i also tel everyone if their dog or puppy has diarrhea or constipation they should give him or her a little bit of 100 percent PURE pumpkin. it helps with both. that is another thing that i give my dog everyday. it also has a lot of health benefits. however don’t give too much it has vitamin a in it which can be toxic to dogs if given in large doses. here is a good page i recomend to everyone as well. http://www.cesarsway.com/dog-care/dog-nutrition/Dog-Nutrition-A-to-Z

Mei Ling

I don’t have experience with long hair, but I would think that it doesn’t matter if the oil is on the skin or just on the hair, since the oil does not have to be absorbed by the skin to unfold its effect.

Sharon K.

I cook with organic extra virgin coconut oil, , buy it from SAMS; bake with coconut oil, use it as a substitute for butter [it’s fantastic] use it on my body as a moisturizer, feed it to my Yorkie and saturate her body with it after her bath, to repel fleas….IT WORKS. If he goes into his dog house it coats the inside wall where he lays and the fleas stay out!…It’s the best natural product. It even has health belefits….Goodle coconut oil to reveal other uses for coconut oil

Hi, I am glad I found your site as I was searching for something to relieve fleas from my schnauzers. I live on a mountain and all I see is trees and grass outside. My dogs have been given flea pills and flea oils. I feel like there bad for my dogs. They have fleas on them all the time. I usually spend hours combing them and killing them and then it is time for them to go outside and pee pee. Then It starts all over again. I have been retired 6 years and all I do is take care of my 2 and my daughters 2 schnauzers. They go outside and roll on there backs scratching and now there hair is coming out. They look so pitiful. I feel like I am going crazing. I just read that a lady gave her dogs 1 raw egg and a tsp. of coconut oil everyday and her dogs haven’t had fleas or ticks. She has been doing this for the past 50 years for dogs she’s had. So she doesn’t rub it into there hair at all she just feeds it to them. I am going to get some coconut oil and try this on my dogs so maybe they and I will get some relief. Thanks everyone for your comments! God bless our little animals.

Brian Hermelijn

I’m currently researching more about natural tick repellents etc. And found out about coconut oil. My question would be, how many times you need to reapply this? And can you lets say cook coconut with water, add it in spray bottle and spray it on the pet or do you need to apply the fat instead?

Hi Brian, awesome that you are trying to go chemical free! As to the coconut fat, I apply it once a day on the dogs, or twice when the go swim ;). But currently I’m trying to just feed the coconut oil to them – some readers suggested that this would also work. One of them also wrote that she tried the spray bottle and it worked fine too! I guess there are many ways :)

Gary

I’ve had trouble getting answers to many of the questions this dialogue has brought up so have drawn my own conclusions based on experience with a Wheaten Terrier.

First off my Wheaten is on a raw diet which apparently, if well balanced, has its own benefits to flea and tick control.

Secondly I also feed some coconut oil to Quigley. He absolutely loves it.

Finally, getting it into his fur which is quite fine and dense is not easy nor does it penetrate to his skin very well. The end result is a greasy dog who licks his fur excessively. Warm coconut oil in warm water shaken hard can be used in a spray bottle on other types of fur perhaps but below 76 degrees the oil resolidifies and can clog the sprayer. Instead, I mix almost equal parts warmed oil and shampoo together with a whisk and use this on my dog in the shower/bath (the shampoo emulsifies the oil quite well). I leave it sit for 5-10 minutes and rinse. This year may be a better flea season than last year, but this does seem to do the trick for a month at a time. I would love to hear any feedback from anyone who tries this as well.

Brenda

I have a bernese mountain dog that does wilderness search work. The ticks are horrible in my area and her long, thick black fur makes it almost impossible to find them on her. Do you think the shampoo mixed with coconut oil could be helpful even in her extreme circumstances?

Kristy

This might sound silly, but it works for people too! My flatmate moved out, but her cats fleas didn’t. It took a good week of itchy bites before it clicked – they’d found a new food source. I am the absolute worst with insects and I went almost out of my mind, flea bombing and trying all sots of tricks to get rid of the nasty buggers -I couldn’t even sleep! But I found a little site talking about all natural this and that, and I figured, what did I have to lose? Now I slather the oil on my legs and I can walk around the house again, which is great in this boiling weather we’ve got. Fleas jump off me the second they touch me, and I’m excited to try the coconut spray! I’m a total all-natural convert!

Not silly at all! Coconut oil is great for people and super healthy. I use it also for oil pulling, as make-up remover and I put it on my legs when I go for hikes in nature, so that I don’t get any ticks. :) Thanks for stopping by and greetings!

I have a lovely dog and I always prefer homemade food with required nutrition for my pet. I think, your given tips will be very helpful and I never try coconut oil for my pet, so I will try it and it will be good for its health. Thanks for sharing .

Amy

Our neighbors moved, but the fleas didnt go with them. They hopped over to our yard and our poor dogs became infested. After numerous times of spraying the yard, baths, cedar oil spray, frontline, advantage, etc, etc I found this site. I had a big old jar of cocount oil so I thought, why not try it, I have tried everything else. I shaved my labs down pretty short, and rubbed coconut oil all over them. They loved it! I placed a white towel in their beds. An hour later I took them outside to potty. I happened to look at the white towels and I cannot explain how many dead fleas were on them. Nothing, and I mean nothing has worked that fast and that quickly to kill fleas. Whenever they hear me open the jar, they come running. If you are at your wit’s end, you must try it!

Linda

I am so excited to read this and am going to try it first thing. I think I will try adding to his food first before rubbing it into his fur. This, I assume, kills the adult fleas, but what happens to the flea larvae and eggs that have nestled themselves into rugs or carpets? I understand that using Red Lake Earth® Food Chemical Codex Grade Diatomaceous Earth with Calcium Bentonite Supplement (which I can get at the Tractor Store) is great to not only use outside the house, but inside the house, and to also put on or let the dog eat? Is that true???

Hi Linda, great to hear that you will also give coconut oil a try! As to the Red Lake Earth® Food I unfortunately can’t give you any input. Since I live overseas, I have never heard of this but maybe another reader knows an answer? In general I would always try natural things before using chemicals in the house or on the pets. I know that one reader melted coconut oil, mixed it with water and sprayed the mixture on rugs and the dog bed, which apparently helped to get rid of the fleas. I hope this helps!

Senta

I am so glad to find that people are catching on to the amazing coconut oil! I stumbled on it a while back because my poor little doggie had mange, and I had tried everything, and nothing worked! So, I figured I used coconut oil on my skin, and I knew it was safe for the dogs to eat, so I used it to help sooth her skin, and much to my surprise, it cleared up the mange! I found out that the oils suffocate the little jerks that invade the dogs skin (including fleas) and it makes their fur soo soft! I have not used any flea medications on my dogs in years, and they are flea, tick, and mange free! I can’t recommend coconut oil enough to animal owners! It is a life saver!

Lisa

Linda,
I saw this same product, Red Lake Earth® Food Chemical Codex Grade Diatomaceous Earth with Calcium Bentonite Supplement, and would not buy it because was not Food Grade. The people at the feed store said people DID use it in their animal’s feed, but I didn’t feel good about it. You can special order St. Gabriel’s Food Grade DE from Home Depot, I’m still waiting for mine to arrive at my local HD store. They have Safer brand DE on their shelves but it’s not food grade, though it would be good for use on lawns or patios for all creatures with an exoskeleton . I ended up getting the right DE through Amazon. You’ll learn a lot about it in the comments if you want to dig deeper into this non-toxic remedy. Other names for it Fuller’s Earth and Fossil Shell Flour.

Shelley

I have read several articles about using coconut oil to help prevent fleas because I have 3 dogs and 2 cats that are getting ate alive by fleas this year. I have tried the vet meds that cost a arm and a leg but even those don’t seem to help. I want to try the coconut oil but is it safe for cats and dogs.

Hi Shelley, thank you for stopping by. I have read a lot about coconut oil for dogs so far and I never came across a warning, so I think it should be safe to use. I have been using it with my dog for years now and the vet just told me he is in great shape. When it comes to cats, I cannot say for sure, since I have never researched the use of coconut oil for cats. Though I know that some people do use coconut oil with their cats and it seems to go well. But double check it in the internet or with your vet, just to be sure. I hope this helped. Good luck!

Pam Henderson

Love the coconut oil I have a yorkie poo and a feist who have been tormented by fleas this summer!!! I’ve tried topical, capstar pills and Dawn dish washing liquid!! Nothing has worked but the coconut oil has!!!! Thank you for sharing!!!

Karly

I just found a bunch of bites and a few fleas on my little mutt, so I’m going to slather her with coconut oil. I already love it for my skin!
Also, my vet says it’s safe to feed 1 medium clove of raw garlic per 30lbs of dog each day, but it takes a month or so to repel bugs.

Shannon Smith

Unbelievable how well this worked for my fur babies! And how incredibly fast! Those nasty fleas couldn’t get away fast enough and were dying in front of my eyes! No more poison for my little ones ever! I use coconut oil on my skin.and now theirs too.ty ty a million Ty’s.
Sincerely,
Beebs the shih tzu
Gimpy the beagle
Patches the chihuahua
And last but not least
Houdini the magic cat

Jackson

I went visiting a friend n I saw a whole lot of tick on its dogs body full grown wanted to ask can he start treating d dog wit coconut oil n how long do they take before dey are gone of its body..its a rotwiller…thank you

I don’t really want ticks just falling off if my dog and on to the floor… She is home all day long alone and I don’t want to find ticks all over the floors what happens when you put the coconut oil on do they just fall off?

Susan King

I would love to try the coconut oil spray. How do you make it up. I have solid organic raw coconut oil. I am going to try it on my dogs fur. Can the dogs have a little in their food as well as on their fur. Thank you

Awesome that you want to try the coconut oil on your dogs too! For the spray, please read the update 4/15/2013 at the bottom of the article. There you’ll find directions for it from another reader. I have also been feeding the oil to the dogs and they love it!

Brenda

a friend of mine told me about the coconut oil here recently, so when i was out i dropped in walmart and got a jar of the Wild Oats Organic extra virgin coconut oil ive seen alot of positive things about it so i thought id try it on my dog, she is min collie and shih tzu mix..she has been scratching like crazy and its driving her crazy she has gotten to the point that she is pulling patches of her furr out when she does the skin isnt red its kinda white and flaky wich indacates to me dry skin.. wich i was unaware she even had dry skin.. cause this summer flea’s was so bad we were battling them like crazy i tried everything and nothing seemed to kill them, i bought flea meds from the store, i tried home remedies everything well i was reading that the coconut oil will also help with this problem too.. does it really help with the fleas and dry skin…and has anyones dogs had any bad experience’s with it,? im very picky what i use on her and i dont want her to get sick.

Hi Brenda, I’m sorry to hear that the fleas are causing so much pain for your dog. So far I’ve not heard of anyone who had a bad experience with coconut oil. I even feed it to my dogs and they are doing great. I can imagine that it will also be very good for her skin. I actually use coconut oil on my own skin instead of bodylotion. I hope this helps and would love to hear back how your experience with the oil is. I hope your dog is feeling better soon!

Jan

Glad I found this site – I don’t have a flea problem but a pesky lice issue. I have a Golden Retriever with a lice infestation. We just did a Frontline dose although I was not happy using chemicals. Also using Diatomaceous Earth and that really seems to help, but it’s very drying to her skin and it’s quite messy. With that said, I believe I will try to rub some coconut oil into her skin (that Golden fur is long and dense – I envision a greasy dog and having to replace the carpet!) and then sprinkle the DE over that. I didn’t want to use the Frontline but the vet convince me it was the quickest way to get rid of them and the dog is MISERABLE. Feeling more confidant that perhaps the coconut oil and DE combo may do the trick and end this most uncomfortable problem for my sweet baby.

Hi Jan, I would be very curious to hear if coconut oil also helps against lice. If applying the oil on her fur is getting too greasy, you could also try feeding the oil (1/2 to 1 tsp a day). A lot of readers have reported that this works just as well, at least against fleas and ticks. Good luck!!

Jan

She already takes it internally daily – I oiled her fur up last night and surprisingly it immediately calmed her down. I then sprinkled the DE over it and she seemed to sleep fairly good. This morning, she’s back to scratching and her coat is actually not that ‘greasy’ though. I had gone thru my linen closet and grabbed every set of sheets I own and laid them on the bedroom floor to try to keep the carpet from absorbing the oil. We have a lot of snow on the ground and on her morning walk she rolled and rolled in it (it feels good and cools her skin down)…..afterwards her coat looked like she had just been groomed! LOL!!!

I’ll keep you posted!

Martin

I have a English bullmastiff, so cute and energetic but ticks wouldn’t let him be. i have been at war with the ticks for 6 months now, i ve tried shampoos, powders, and bath Charlie often but the ticks seem to be win the war, i just came across this site and by morning, i cant wait to launch a surprise attack with the latest weapon coconut oil. I hope he lets me use it on him, he runs off when i hold a container due to past experience

Since I’m not an expert, I can’t tell you with 100% certainty, but I cannot imagine that it would be a problem, since coconut oil is a natural product and I have never heard, that it reacts in some way with Frontline. Since you can even feed coconut oil to your dog, it should be safe either way. But if you feel uncertain, maybe check with your vet before. :) Good luck and thank you for stopping by! I hope it helps!

Krista

Hi Krista, I leave it on after. In case you feel like the fur is getting too greasy, you could also try to feed the coconut oil to your dog. A lot of readers commented that this works for them too. Putting it on the fur has a more instant effect though.

Claudia

Hi Claudia, I read on some pages that coconut oil helps to excrete the worms, but I’m not sure if it would prevent worms in the first place. If you try it with your dog, please let me know if it worked. I’m curious to hear :)

Claudia

Rayetta

I have 3 German Shepherds, and 2 of them are long coats. I have been feeding them coconut oil for about 2 years now, but I have never tried to “lather” them up with it for flea prevention. Besides the shear fact that it would take a gallon to coat Axel alone… I assumed they would end up licking excessively because they love it so much… I also use DE around the property. I’ve never seen a flea on any of them, but occasionally they still get itching… therefore, I love the idea of equal parts warmed coconut oil to shampoo that Gary has used on his Wheaton Terrier. I think most of us over bathe our dogs which only compounds the problem of itching by causing them to have dry skin… So, this will be my project for tomorrow. Thanks for a great (much needed) topic.

Hi Rayetta, thank you for your comment! Some of the readers have commented that feeding the coconut oil alone helped to protect against fleas and ticks. But if this didn’t work for you, then hopefully the suggestion of Gary will work. As to applying coconut oil directly on their fur, it should be enough to use just a bit of oil, since the ticks and fleas are repelled by the smell of components of the coconut oil. I hope this helps! :-)

Eric

I have been using it for one week after we moved into the country and our Sheltie started scratching constantly. I read this and didn’t even think about it even though my wife and I use it for everything. After one week his scratching has seized to exist and he is happier. The first time I tried it I had 2 fleas on my hand from it “sticking” to the oil on my hand…..My wife called me a creeper because I watched them die a slow death. One tried to jump but only made it about 3 inches in the sink. Good riddance to them. I.also spread DE on our carpets once a week. Must sau this is all better and cheaper then the K9 Advantix II we were giving him. Thanks.

Neiko Loves

After digging for days I found that buying drugs such as Nexgard is seemly a HUGE waste of money and worse yet is it’s not safe and in fact most likely very very toxic. I have no issue paying the over inflated fees, well yeah I do for toxic cures. What I do have an issue with is how this can affect your animal and that their is zero accountability. So like many others, we are seeking a better more holistic way, hopefully these paths will end with great results. So for that I pre thank you for providing this information on this well pointed website.

Robert

Sad to say this didn’t work for our chihuahua mix. We’ve given it both internally and I’ve applied it to her coat, every day, thoroughly, for a week. This morning I still picked off another flea. I really, really don’t want to go back to using Frontline or some other poison, but we’ve been battling the South Florida super fleas all spring and nothing natural has worked :(

Had high hopes for this, as I love coconut oil, but it just didn’t work at all.

Hi Robert, thanks for letting us know. What a bummer! Have you tried feeding black caraway oil? I heard it should also be a good natural remedy. Maybe this might help? Just make sure to double check the dose. If I’m not mistaken the caraway oil should only be given for a period of time (like 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off). I really hope you find something that works!

Robert

I haven’t heard about black caraway oil – I’ll check that out next, thanks! So far we’ve tried DE, apple cider vinegar, essential oils, Dawn blue soap baths, and now coconut oil. I actually saw a few fleas jump off when I applied the coconut oil the first few times, so it clearly works on some of them, but she’s still scratching and I pulled 2 live ones off of her legs today, a week later, so it doesn’t get them all. Will keep trying natural things and, hopefully, avoiding chemicals, but we’re getting close to the limit…

A jones

Hi my dog is on medicine for seizurers. Pheno and potassium bromine. Do you think the coconut oil will clash with his meds. If I put it in his food. I will be asking my vet too but just wanted to hear your opinion. The ticks in pa are awful they just crawl on him every time he goes for a walk. Looking for natural remedies. No mire medicines for my boy. He’s a lab/ hound dog.

Hi A jones, I cannot imagine that the coconut oil would clash with his meds (and never read anything about this), but since I’m not an expert on this it’s for sure better to ask your vet about it. I hope he’ll give you a green light!

Kirk

I live up in Escanaba, MI we just moved up here a few months ago with our Chow-Chows. Unfortunately I just discovered that they have a large infestation of wood ticks up in this region. I spent a few hours pulling ticks off our big male today. Somewhere in the range of 20-30 of them. I became aware of the problem when 3 fully engorged ones fell off of him the other day and starting crawling across the floor. I read your article and a few of the posts from readers and wanted to know if you heard back from anyone about 1.) does boiling the water with coconut oil and then spraying on the dog actually work. 2.)does ingesting coconut oil helped keep them away. I feel so bad for our little guy because when you pull them out they don’t just easily come out they pull out an entire section of flesh with them. With the number of ticks I’ve removed just today alone I feel so incredibly bad. They are so hard to find on him because of the extremely dense coat and I’ve been told they will be this bad until september.

Dear Kirk, I’m sorry to hear about your Chow-Chows. That must be stressful for them. As to the coconut oil… I did hear from readers for whom the ingesting and the spray works fine. Personally I have always stuck with applying it directly on the fur, because this has worked best with my dogs. I think when you feed it to them then you have to wait a few days for results and do it regularly. It’s definitely worth a try (and usually dogs love the taste too!). The spray I have never tried myself, but some readers recommended it after trying it. For removing the ticks I always use special tick tweezers. Once they are locked in the tweezer you just need to turn them clockwise and they will come of easily. That way you also insure that the head doesn’t stay attach, which can still transfer diseases. Maybe that can help you too, to remove the ticks without section of flesh. I hope your dogs will be tick free soon and wish you best of luck. Let me know if the coconut oil worked for you!

Courtney

Kirk….we have fed our dog coconut oil everyday for a year almost….we did it to help with her dry skin….and so far we have not had any fleas or ticks….we have been keeping a very close eye on here to make sure…..we have not put anything else on her…..we just melt it and add it to her wet food….she doesnt eat dry wont touch it ….LOL….and she LOVES it….will come out while I am making her food just to get some….she licks it out of the bottom of the dish before she eats……GOOD LUCK!!

Kirk

I picked up a big tub of it last night and tried. Unfortunately he doesn’t care for the taste of it and curls his lip when he smells it(It’s actually kind of funny to see, he does the same thing with the smell of pineapple). I’ll have to get creative with my method of deliverance. The weird thing is we have 4 of them right now (female and two pups as well) and he’s the only one that has them. For now I tried melting and putting it over his dry food. I can’t do the wet food idea because he seems to get diarrhea whenever he ingests wet food. We’ve tried various brands over the years with the same result.

yeahman45

is it a preventive method or will this also kill ticks that are already on the dog? My dogs have a lot of ticks already on them… they are like colonies; big ones and a large amount of small ones. will the coconut oil be effective killing these existing ticks?

I believe it’s more of a preventive method. But since the ticks don’t like the smell of the coconut oil, they might even detach from the skin, if you rub your dog with the coconut oil. Not sure if it’ll work 100% but it’s maybe worth a try. Good luck! Would love to hear how it went!

andria

Hi… Hello everyone… Thank you very much for your pos. I have a shih tzu that is currently inffected with fleas. We will try virgin coconut oil with him. later and with a big hope that it will work.. Thanks.again.

Beth

Here is a crazy scenario… I have two (Lady who is 2 years old and Lucy who is 5 months old) Midland Terriors. We recently relocated to Italy where fleas are RIDICULOUS!! I have never had to deal with fleas in my life!!! But, here is the kicker… The DOGS DONT HAVE FLEAS!!! The little nasty critters ONLY bite ME. Not my husband or my children and, to my shockingly surprise, not even the dogs. UGH! The coconut oil seems to keep the girls pretty relaxed and flea free. So here is my question… HOW DO I RID MY HOUSE (and apparently) MYSELF OF FLEAS? I would really like to stay with the coconut oil remedy, as my dogs always smell great. I have began applying it to myself nightly. But how can I administer it throughout my home, ex. couch, carpets, beds? PLEASE HELP ME TO END THIS EVIL TORTURE… TIA.

Gina

Hi.. I’m so glad I found your blog post, thank you so much for sharing it really helps my problem. I have a 3 year old golden retriever who has skin problem, he scratch his skin almost every time. I’ve tried everything from the vet but nothing was working, I went from one vet to another and no one can help my dog skin problem, and it’s been going for years. And to make it worse, we have fleas and tick problem in my house area. I live in Indonesia and the weather is very humid, so the fleas and tick grow very fast. We even hired pest control regularly but it didn’t help. So we’re kinda desperate, and I really want my golden to have a healthier skin.

And then, I found your blog and tried the coconut oil right a way to my dog. I rubbed the oil onto the fur and skin, all over his body and he seems very enjoying the scents, which makes me even happier. And for the first time in years, I saw my dog didn’t scratch his skin not even once all day, and also I didn’t find any single flea on my dog. I almost didn’t believe it, how can it works so fast, but it is. This coconut oil is magic! I can’t thank you enough for sharing this blog :)

jeanette looman

I have a big dog a blue healer I NEED SOMETHING TO PUT ON HIM HE WEIGHS 86 POUNDS I READ ABOUT THE COCONUT OIL HOW MUCH WOULD I GIVE HIM AND A CAT THAT WEIGHS ABOUT 7 LBS. AND CAN YOU PUT IT INTO DRY FOOD THAT IS WHAT MY ANIMALS EAT.
IT IS REALLY GOOD THAT SOMEONE LIKE YOU LETS PEOPLE NO ABOIUT THINGS THAT WORK ON ANIMALS . iF YOU WOULD WRITE ME BACK AND TELLME ABOUT IT.

THANKS , LOOMANJEANETTE

Katrina

So, I wonder if you even have to spray it on their fur? I read the other day that it’s extremely healthy and beneficial if you feed your dog coconut oil everyday. It said it helped a lot of things but mainly their fur and skin, it was very recommended for doggies with skin allergies or sensitive skin.

Hi Katrina, some of the readers have in fact tried to feed the coconut oil to their dogs and made good experiences! For my dog it worked best to apply the coconut oil on the fur. For some reason just feeding it wasn’t enough. Let me know how it worked for you if you happen to try it! :-)

Gigi

Hi! I have a 2 year old west highland white terrier and lately he has had tons of ticks!! I’m very scared because I’ve found some ticks on the floor and I’m so thankful I found your post! I take them off but there seems to be more on him, will this actually kill them and make the ticks fall off? And how long till I can see the results? :) thanks!!!

Hi Gigi, I haven’t made experience with fleas yet (only ticks), since the coconut oil works as a prevention and my dog never had fleas. But readers who had dogs with fleas said that when applying the oil, the fleas will start jumping of right away. If they are soaked in the oil the will fall of dead also. Either way, the results should be immediate. And if you keep using the coconut oil as prevention, hopefully there won’t be any fleas and ticks in the future :-) Hope it will work and wish you good luck!

Gigi

Hmmm not sure to be honest. Usually I take of the ticks immediately when I spot one, so I didn’t observe if they would fall of by themselves once they’ve attached already. Would be interesting to know though! If you try it, please let me know :-) Have a great weekend!

Alison

I know I’m going to regret posting prematurely – I’ve just had a quick scan round your site and found that you’re an Emoto convert and no doubt will find Anna Breytenbach there too – but can’t stop myself.

Just back from a shopping trip to get some coconut oil. My poor flea-ridden Tara is lying comfortably and fragrantly beside me, not scratching for the first time in ages. A little heap of sleepy fleas is gathering on the cover (easily shaken out).

A thousand thanks for this. You have made my 2015. Now for the mangey cats.

I wanted to follow up. I landed here after studying the active ingredients in Dinovite’s flea entry. Mostly soybean oil. At $20 for a bottle not counting shipping I felt that surely I could whip up something myself. When I wen looking here I came.

I’m not declaring 100% success but I would declare 98% success. Surely there are some fleas around here somewhere. However, a check of Howl’s belly a few minutes ago showed zip.

Prior to your treatment our two dogs were pretty much flea mass transit. They would get a bath and about 10 minutes later get re-infested and in a week be two tone again. Their natural color and flea. The fleas didn’t care much for my wife but they LOVED me! Sorry rascals. RIP.

We started with the spritz and a little later began feeding them the coconut oil. A half teaspoon a day for the little dog and a full teaspoon for the big one.

I have pretty much discontinued the spritz of oil, water, and a little peppermint. Neither care much for it at all. Which troubles me not. They are dogs. They get their goody afterwards so good enough for them. However, now that they are strictly on the lop lop regime still NO fleas. Wow!!!!! I may start eating the stuff myself.

Thank you 5000 times for your GREAT and simple and effective and cheap and safe method of getting rid of those pesky fleas. Wow!!!! You did GREAT! Massive thanks!!! And I might add, pfooey to you Hartz Mountain.

As for you, dear reader. I would urge you to have a go at this. Use her formula or mine…a one part coconut oil to two parts water or thereabouts well shaken as you spritz with your spray bottle (It’s not all that oily on their coat. Hand rub it in afterwards.)…and a half teaspoon for small dogs up to a teaspoon for larger on their food once a day. Do your best at de-fleaing the carpet, etc and then watch the magic happen in less than a month.

Lastly come back here and share your results so that others may benefit as well.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience with coconut oil, Buck! I’m always so happy to hear such positive response. Glad I could help! :-) Btw, it is in fact healthy for us humans as well to eat/use coconut oil. Have you heard of oil pulling? Coconut oil is great for that! I also use it instead of body lotion; as a make-up remover and when I go walk in the forest or high grass I rub it on my skin to keep the ticks away. Works like a charm!

Becky

i loved the article on coconut oil and I too use it for everything! Just wanted to add that to can also give it to dogs orally. Just put a little on your finger and they will lick it off. The coconut oil kills bad breath in dogs and they like it! Bonus!!
Thanks for the article.

Kathryn C.

Hey guys and gals, Thank you so much for the info. I work for a 78 year old lady with a Mastiff and he is going crazy with the fleas and the bites he has from them. I want to share this info with my little lady and hopefully it will work. It makes us feel so bad to see him suffer… Nothing seems to work this year…Hopefully these ideas will do the trick! Thanks again for your info…I sure hope it works…K

Courtney

we have not put anything on our pup this year just fed her coconut oil in her food and we havent had any fleas or ticks….we have taken her camping and she loves to play in the weeds, and we havent had anything…I hope you have the same luck

peggi

I am going to try the coconut oil on my Chihuahua Zoë as shoe is only two pounds and has already had a stroke from chemicals. I also have a pug a pomp and a ratty pit. How much should I feed the little one? The fleas and ticks are horrible this year with the humidity.

Cheasna

Yes, it also works for long haired dogs. Since it is a substance in the coconut oil that the ticks/fleas don’t like to smell, it doesn’t matter if the coconut oil is on the skin or just on the hair. Good luck!

susan gooding

Linda

Hi there! After reading the information you posted about coconut oil as a flea & tick repellant, I had the horrible experience where my dogs got into a nest of seed ticks and brought them into our home without our knowing. The next morning I looked into their beds and saw what looked like dozens of ” seeds”. After a closer look it turns out they were tiny seed ticks! Seed ticks apparently are just hatched nymphs which latch onto animals by the hundreds and are hungry for their first meal!
I have used apple cider vinegar rinse throughout the summer with excellent success and had no ticks on the dogs up to this point, so I was very frustrated. The seed ticks did not seem phased by the smell of the ACV rinse at all.
I didn’t want to treat my dogs with any chemicals if I didn’t have to, but everything I read about these seed ticks said that you must use chemicals to rid them from your pets & your home environment.
Then I read what you experienced with coconut oil. I already had organic coconut oil in the house as I give it to my dogs in their food daily. I liked the idea of using it to rub into their fur to get rid of these seed ticks. So I rubbed it throughly into their fur before they went to bed that night ( maybe a little too much because they looked somewhat greasy!) but I wanted to give this a good chance.
The next morning I woke up and found dozens of dead or near dead seed ticks in and around their bedding! Not sure if we have gotten rid of all the little critters, I left the oil on my dogs the entire day and next night. I have not seen another seed tick in sight !
I just wanted you to know that your information was extremely useful and such a healthy solution for my pets…I am so grateful to you that I could make use of a such a great product to rid my dogs of these unwelcome pests!

Carrol

I am glad I found this site. I am not dealing with dogs that have fleas, but am caring for an injured goat in my house that got an infestation of fleas. I have already been using diatomaceous earth and sprinkling it on her daily, but it could not keep up with the fleas hatching. Her fur is white and she has light skin, so when I was looking her skin almost looked black due the infestation of fleas. I do not and will not use chemicals on her.

I use coconut oil for alot of things (including wound care), so I was wondering if coconut oil would help with the flea problem. 2 days ago, I liberally applied coconut oil to her fur, rubbed it into her skin, so much that she looked like she had been greased up. By evening time, the fleas were dead and I was able to brush them off of her easily. Since then I have started to apply coconut oil to her daily and am still removing dead fleas (I assume this is due to new fleas hatching). When I inspect her now, she is almost completely clear of fleas, but I will keep up using the coconut oil on her as a preventative measure.

Thank you for posting this information. Finding good working alternative methods to the chemicals is important. It is amazing what we can do with the things that we stock in our kitchen.

Neiko Loves

We tried this stuff on a vacation in the Smoky Mountains and it seems to work well. It’s called Vet’s Best Flea & Tick Home Spray, it uses a unique blend of peppermint oil and clove extract to control and kill fleas, flea eggs, and ticks on contact. And, repels mosquitoes too!.

It would seem at this time Amazon has the best prices at $7.99 per 32 oz. All you need to buy is a cheap atomizer; at one of the Marts and or drug store then you have portability. As long as we stay all natural I’m happy, otherwise I fear everything else is truly toxic and will kill your dog over time.

Would you eat a bug spray pill, put fea and tick collar on yourself and or drink it, apply is topically, if not, then don’t give it to your dog ever. Companies do not care and it’s time that hurts. Something people trusted for years and look now.

We still use a deep metal comb as a backup, but for the most part, we have been very tick limited, not tick free, but 3 ticks in 2 years is not bad. As we hike all the time, they went after his lip, nose and close to the eye, nothing else. Just have to be more diligent to prevent these little nasty mothers from taking temporary residence….

Jacob Penny

I’ve been putting about 1 tsp of organic coconut oil in both of my dags food each morning. I’ve noticed that there has been little to no fleas at all on my dogs. Great product. Better than paying $200+ for prescription flea medications.

Bobbie

I’ve been giving my 15 lb. Miniature Schnauzer coconut oil for about a year now. Just about 1/2 tsp, sometimes twice a day, for her cognitive dysfunction syndrome. It definitely helps her! Without it she just wanders around in a circle and gets stuck in a corner. The vet had predicted she would need to be put down sometime in the summer and here it is December with very little progression of her condition. ANYWAY we still have fleas at our house. My big dog brings them in mostly I guess. I am going to try the topical application of the coconut oil and hope for the best!

viloshini

hi my name is vilo. my husband & i live in johannesburg south africa with our adorable 2 babies a 13 yr old male maltese and 4 yr old female miniature french poodle. recently due to the extreme heat conditions both of them were infested with ticks. purely by chance i discovered your site and it was the best thing ever. we tried the coconut oil and WOW , what a miracle – the ticks vanished almost instantly.
i just have two questions – after the application of the oil how long after that can we bathe them and after the bathe can we re- apply the oil.
do you have any suggestions on natural shampoos to use .
it is rather difficult to get the pure coconut oil so we used the one for cooking.
once again thanks a mil
vilo

Hi Vilo, thank you so much for writing. I’m really happy to hear that the coconut oil worked for your furry family members! :) The coconut oil only works as long as it is on the fur/skin, so when you wash the dogs, the effect will be gone, but you can apply the oil as often as you like (also right after washing the dogs). I usually rub a little bit of oil on my dogs every day (in the summer season) for tick prevention. If you don’t want your dogs to get too greasy you could also try feeding coconut oil to them (about 1/2-1 tsp a day). While it didn’t work that well for my dogs, a lot of my readers made great experience with that, so it’s worth a try! As to natural shampoo recommendation, check out this link on how to make a diy natural shampoo. I hope it helps! https://www.petcarerx.com/article/natural-and-homemade-shampoo-for-dogs/199

Michele McWilliams

I was up at 3am this morning, looking online for help when my hairless CC’s were shaking their heads so violently, it woke me up out of a deep sleep. We just moved to a new home in a very rural area and the previous tenants had farm animals right next to the house (who does that?) and fleas were everywhere. I rubbed both girls down with coconut oil and was able to comb the offenders off so the could take a nice, refreshing dip in the rubbing alcohol pool. Chasing them down wasn’t much of a challenge since the coconut oil put them in a drug-induced stupor, which is good since they seem to get away no matter how tightly I press my fingers together. I am very grateful for your advice – worked perfectly.

Angel

Dear Greenderella, sorry this is a lil bit out of topic. But I would like to ask you some question. I have a 10 yo pitiful who is having problem skin because of age. He has blister that just coming back. Meds from vet didn’t work and I would like to try coconut oil for the treatment as I heard it’s good for skin problem. But I also heard that coconut oil attracts ants and I am worried if my dog will get attack by them as he lives outdoor. Lot of ants and mosquitos here. So, the question is, do you ever have problem with ants attacking your dogs because of the coconut oil? Thank you so much in advance! -Angel from Indonesia-

Dear Angel, I’m sorry to hear about your dog! I use coconut oil for many years now and never saw an ant on my dogs. This is only my experience and I’m not an expert but if I was you, I would give coconut oil a try. You could always wash off the coconut oil, in case you find ants on your dog. Let me know if it helps, I would love to hear. :-) Best wishes!

Karrie Dunn

We have been putting coconut oil in our dogs food daily for months now. We haven’t used flea treatment on him since we have had him. Ever since we have started feeding him coconut oil with his food, He hasn’t had one flea what so ever and where we live we have them bad.

Christal

Hello, I find your advice interesting and would like to try it on my pet chiweenie but there is one thing I like would ask you to make sure of something. When you put coconut oil all over your dog and took him out on a stroll, will ticks cling in him?
If it doesn’t, then this website will surely
be one of the greatest help for my dog!
Hope you reply and God bless you!

Hi Christal, thanks for stopping by! :) Since the ticks are repelled by the lauric acid in the coconut oil, they won’t even cling on to the dog. Hopefully your chiweenie will be free of ticks in no time! Good luck! :-)

Paola Merlo

Thank you for your post, I will try it immediately with my three maremmano mix dogs. I would prefer to feed them with the oil. Do you know if it works with cats too? Or if it is possible to use it on cats too?
Thank you very much for your help,

Christal

Hello, I would like ask for help about the coconut oil. Where can I get extra virgin coconut oil? (if you had better choice about coconut oil feel free to tell me) as I never experience buying them online because I don’t have the requirement to do so. Will coconut oil as in liquid help my chiweenie?
It’s it cheap? I hope it’s not that difficult to get coconut oil. Please help me!

Hi Christal, I don’t know where you live, but in America or Europe you should be able to find coconut oil in every bigger grocery store or health food store. It doesn’t have to be organic but it should be pure coconut oil (no additives). At room temperature it is usually solid, but with warmer temperatures it’ll be liquid. This way it’s also easier to apply. I hope this helps! All the best to you and your chiweenie :)

Alberta Holloway

HI We have a 4 month old mini dachshund (wire haired) and I don’t want to give her the standard tick treatments when she gets older. We do go in the woods a lot so we need something. My questions would be … is 4 months old too young to use the coconut oil and second do you just rub it on the fur or try to rub it down into the skin. thank you so much

Hi Alberta, I never heard that coconut oil is harmful to puppies, but since I’m not a specialist on this field you could double check with your vet. From what I know, coconut oil is very healthy and you could even feed it to your dogs. Oh and it’s enough to simply rub the coconut oil on the fur. It doesn’t even need to be a lot. I hope it works for you! All the best, Franziska

Alberta Holloway

Thank you for your help. I’ll mention it to our vet but as a rule he isn’t too interested in homeopathic or natural things.
(neither is the other vet in or town) But we’ll give it a try. Meanwhile, thing it is worth trying and we’ll do it on a lighter scale at first just to make sure. But excited that it could work !! thank you !!!

Hi Emery, you don’t need to put much coconut oil on your dog. Depending on the size of the dog, 1/2 to 1 teaspoon is enough. In the beginning I suggest to do this at least once a day. Since the ticks are repelled by the lauric acid in the coconut oil, the effect would not work if you rinse your dog afterwards. However, some readers have commented that they also had good result by simply feeding coconut oil to their dogs (about 1 teaspoon a day). For me this didn’t work as well as applying it directly on the fur but it’s worth a try. :) Good luck to you!

Emery

I see. Thank you so much for the information. I will buy coconut oil tomorrow and start my operation “kill ticks” plan. XD you are an angel to all the dog lovers for this great information. More power to you and God bless. :)

Thank you for your informative post! We use cedar oil by spraying it on a paper towel and rubbing it on their coat 2 or 3 times a week and it works great too. We rarely find a tick on either of our dogs. I’m happy to know coconut oil works in this same way because I don’t like the smell of cedar very much.

Unfortunately, I don’t think any amount of preventative (natural or vet recommended) will prevent a tick-bomb from ravaging our pets if they happen to step into one. I’ve learned this the hard way, the first time was last summer (ticks so tiny they were the size of pin heads and barely visible to the naked eye). The second time happened yesterday!

I found your post because I was searching for a way to get the seed ticks (bigger than a pin head and more like raspberry seed size) to release. I rubbed coconut oil all over my Staffy’s coat and just massaged her all over. They began to pop off and most of them were dead because the coconut was suffocating them.

Thank goodness I have a short haired dog. I can’t imagine doing this with a long haired pup!

Dear Teresa, I’m so glad that you found this post helpful and that the coconut oil freed your dog from the ticks. Those tick-bombs are terrible indeed. Thank you a lot for sharing your experiment! Have a good one! :)

Sabrina Horton

Thank you for this article! My husband and I have an American Eskimo, yes she is full of hair! she does not have fleas or ticks but little black ants that are driving her itchy! We have searched everywhere in the house for an ant trail and so on and can not find a single one. So, we have come to the conclusion that she gets them when she is outside with us playing, on a walk, etc. I use Coconut oil and was thrilled to read all of the posts that it could be used as a treatment for our girl. She even tried to lick my gloves clean as I was applying to her skin and coat, so, I obliged her with a teaspoon full and she loves it. Hopefully this treatment will rid those pesky ants, so far, it’s been about an hour since applying and she has not scratched nearly as much, she licking her paws instead. Can’t wait for the better half to come home from work, he will be thrilled! Again, thank you for your informational site and thank everyone for your tips and experiences to assist us with some of God’s annoying little creatures that cause problems for our pet family!

Thank you for stopping by and sharing your story! I keep my fingers crossed that your pooch will not be annoyed by ants anymore. Let me know how it worked, I’m curious to know too. I’m glad that the coconut oil made the itching stop. So far so good. :) All the best, Franziska

The most pure form I have found is Parachute brand coconut oil. I use it for my skincare, oil pulling, smoothies and all my cooking. Now my dog is using it too. It’s the only brand that smells like a real tropical island. I buy it at the India store and Mediterranean grocery store.

Hi Pat, as long as there is a bit of oil on your cat, the effect should be there (since the ticks and fleas are repelled by the laurid acid in the oil). It doesn’t even have to be a lot of oil, just a tiny but on some spots. I hope this helps! :)

pat

There is coconut oil on the cat, but what I am referring to is the greasy look on the fur. Will the greasy look go away, or will I need to shampoo the cat to get the cats hair looking like it usually does. I flea combed this morning, found about 4 fleas, that were not dead, and many flea eggs. I don’t want to use chemicals, but I am afraid I am just chasing these darn fleas.

I have not made experience with cats myself. With my dog the greasy look will disappear after a few days, depending on how much oil I put on him. If it’s too much I occasionally shower him with special dog-shampoo. Does your cat mind to be washed? If she doesn’t mind, you could maybe try to put a bit more oil once, to get rid of any existing fleas and then wash her afterwards. But I want to point out again that I’m not an expert on this. :)

Alberta

HI We have a 10 month old mid dachshund which is a wire haired. She does get car sick and such so want to make sure that giving her coconut oil will not make things worse? (she weighs 8.6 lbs. so would I try 1/2 tsp with food and is that with each meal or just once a day. Also since she is wire haired do I just put some coconut oil on my finger tips and spot it various places? we don’t want to use those chemicals for ticks et. thanks so much for any guidance.

Hi there, so far I have not heard of any dog that got sick from coconut oil. If you also want to apply the coconut oil on the fur, just rub about 1/2 a teaspoon on the fur. I usually put a bit on the neck, belly and legs. I hope it works!

Alberta

Thanks we will try that but would still like to consider the coconut oil in her food because we heard that it is good for digestion etc.as well as ticks.
Thinking 1/4 tsp or 1/2 but we just don’t know if that would be each meal or once a day. Any opinion would be appreciated. thank you

To my knowledge you can’t “overdose” with coconut oil, so I believe that 1/2 tsp with every meal should be fine (you could probably tell by watching her digestion). But if you want to be safe, maybe double-check with your vet, next time you visit. :) All the best and good luck!

I have fed 2-3 tsp daily to my cocker spaniel ,there just no side effects instead his hair became silky and smooth ,his coat shedding reduced plus his bowl moment was good and their no indication of any ill health that would have indicated over doseing of coconut oil,and the best part is he loves his daily dose of coconut oil

Laura.H

I applied this mixture in the suggested amounts to both my dogs twice a day at first, morning and night. By the third day I stopped to check with the comb,I was no longer finding anything since I started applying it.

Then it was down to once a day night,since it lasted the whole next day.

Zero. Ticks. NADA!. it worked wonderfully. My dogs walked on talk grass,dead leaves,short grass,dirt,no ticks on them. I have found maybe one or two,both where very slow or dry/dead.

Trish

This is to Diana who wrote about aggression problems and the advice from a vet to put the dog down. My female German Shepard Lab mix also suffered this way due to her 2nd rabies vaccine; was just one too many vaccines and she couldn’t handle it. She became so aggressive that she began biting us. Of course drugging her or putting her down was not an option in my opinion. Upon researching this aggression problem in dogs, I found that the adaptogenic herb called Ashwaganda from India works wonders for her, calming her down and helping her become her normal self again. This could also be combined with Bacopa if you’d like (Organic India sells a formula called “Joy “that works quite well). I use the Joy formula in addition to the Ashwaganda. I am a big fan of adaptogens and you may find this is just the ticket for your poor doggy that suffers from aggression. You can find info on adaptogens online and there is an excellent book written by David Winston and Steven Maimes titled “Adaptogens”. It includes a section on animals. Hope this helps anyone out there having this ever-increasing problem with their beloved pets. I am not a doctor or vet, just a person that loves dogs and chooses to use natural organic methods with my dogs.

Peaches

Im here to attest to the darn near miraculous transformation ive had with my pooch since i started using coconut oil.
But in my case, putting it IN her food daily as oppossed to rubbing her down with it really did the trick.
I think she was to furry and the oil maynt have been reaching the depth it needed because she still had a lingering tick issue.
But when i started adding it to her food they literally vanished. A month later and there isnt one tick on her .
I can barely believe it myself! lol. Thank you to everyone who suggested this. You really saved me.